|
|
Gag Gifts, Occasion Gifts - Ode to Billy Joe
|
List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $64.99
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Robby Benson, Glynnis O'Connor, Joan Hotchkis, Sandy McPeak, James Best
Directed By: Max Baer Jr.
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302877823
Format: Color
ISBN: 6302877822
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: 1994-01-18
Running Time: 105
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1976-06-04
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Based on a 1967 hit song. A seventeen-year-old boy is seduced into a homosexual act. His guilt over the incident drives him to commit suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge, leaving his girlfriend behind.
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Closer Look at the Pivotal Event
Comment: *********** SPOILER ALERT ***********
This was a well-acted portrayal of teen heartache and heartbreak.
The lyrics of the theme song by Bobbie Gentry allegedly had some basis in truth.
Max Baer Jr.'s production of this film gave him a vehicle to break out of his "Jethro Bodine" stereotype.
A young Mackenzie Philips played Bobbie Lee's friend.
When I saw this film as a youth one of my schoolmates reached the conclusion that "Billy Joe was gay". I disagreed then and I still do.
Billy Joe was young, intoxicated, and taken advantage of by an older man. There was nothing to suggest that he was on the prowl, searching for male partners. If anything, he was totally in love with and attracted to his girl.
The real tragedy of this story was that Billy Joe did not have the maturity or perspective to take a one-time episode for what it was: an isolated incident as opposed to an event that would have or should have changed the course of his life.
With sufficient wisdom and insight he would have set his mortification aside and gone on to live a fulfilled life. This was a single episode and, although it was disturbing, it was not worth ruining and cutting short his life.
As for Bobbie Lee, it was not all that plausible that she could have and would have gone off on her own at fifteen, but she sure had a noble reason for doing it. This was a larger than life response to her situation, but that is often why I watch movies and read novels.
This was an especially poignant work of fiction, but it was no guide on how to navigate the disturbing events that sometimes violate and disrupt our lives.
For another epic adolescent story by Herman Raucher, see or read Summer of Forty-Two. Few writers have ever captured the teenage mind as skillfully as he has. All the better that Summer of Forty-Two ends on a higher and more hopeful note.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The truth about Ode To Billy Joe
Comment: I had the good fortune of being an extra in this movie, and I went to school with Bobbie Gentry's two sisters, knew her grandparents and have met Bobbie on more than one occasion. The song was fiction, as was the movie. It was not a true story as many people have said. It's a haunting movie, with good performances, especially Robby. I enjoyed working with him on this movie for over a week and watching him as a professional. I have always felt he was an underrated actor, and he has gone on to be quite successful as a director. When we made the movie, we never thought it would have such a long life, but it has. It lives on, and I think that is a testament to the good performances and Bobbie's wonderful song.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just the Facts, Ma'am
Comment: Bobbie Gentry has stated that the song was inspired by an actual suicide that happened in 1953 but that she did not know why the real Billy Joe had killed himself. We may never know the "true" story
1) An ex-husband stated he once asked her about the song and she wouldn't discuss the details of it with him.
2) It's quite possible that Miss Gentry herself didn't concern herself with motivation when she wrote the song and has never put together a backstory about it..after all, after foty years, she is probably sick of being asked about the song.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good movie but...
Comment: why do so many reviewers find it necessary to reveal the big secret? I hate you all.
Take a tip from professional movie critics who can pass judgment on the quality of the film without blowing the ending for those who haven't seen it yet.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply Heartbreaking
Comment: I saw this movie one night on CMT but I only caught about the last 45 minutes of it. Even with just watching that small part of the movie, I instantly fell in love with it. I am a girl, but unlike most girls, there are few movoes that make me cry or leave me with an amazing feeling. This movie is among the few that pulled some emotion out of me. I saw the book on this site and I knew I had to get it! I want to get the movie now, however, I think the price is a little steep for this movie being 30 years old.
This movie is a love story that is not normal. Most movies end up with the couple living happily ever after but this one doesn't. I don't belive that Billy Joe was a homosexual. I simply think he was drunk and made a mistake. He knows that since he was with a man, he cannot be with Bobbie Lee, even though he truely loves her. This movie was absolutely amazing and I enjoyed watching every single second of it. The actors did an amazing job because I felt like I could actually feel the love that these actors were portraying. I highly recommend this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
